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The Best Apps for Living & Travelling Abroad (Infographic)

Planning on emigrating? Why not download one of these top apps to develop your language skills, make friends and stay safe.

Woman in café looking at her mobile phone

Best Language Learning Apps

Duolingo

A great language learning app for beginners, Duolingo offers 85 different language courses in 24 languages. This app uses microlearning techniques to break down lessons into bite-sized chunks and claims that just 34 hours will give you the same level of education as one university semester. Duolingo’s game-like language lessons provide a variety of exercises to perfect your reading, writing and listening skills.

TANDEM

More advanced speakers seeking a step up may want to try out Tandem. This free app supports almost 150 different languages. Tandem helps you develop conversational skills by setting you up with an exchange partner who is a native speaker of your chosen language. Pairings are set up according to shared interests to ensure that you will never run out of things to talk about. Users can also arrange 1-to-1 practice sessions with “Tandem Tutors” who are certified language instructors.

Top Maps & Navigation Apps

Waze

If you intend to use a car to get around, you may want to think about supplementing Google Maps with Waze. This app pulls together real-time, crowdsourced information from locals about traffic accidents, road conditions, police, hazards and more. The app will then automatically reroute your journey to avoid any disruptions.

Moovit: Public Transit

Understanding the ins and outs of public transport can be hard when you relocate to a different country. The Moovit: Public Transit app helps users plan their train, subway, bus or bike trips across 1,400 cities around the world.

Three people looking at their mobile phones while waiting at a train station

Best Apps To Meet People

MeetUp

When you move to a new country it can be difficult to make friends. The free app MeetUp not only helps users meet new people, but it also allows you to explore your new home. Through the app you can join or create groups based around certain interests (e.g. “Motorcycle Riding” and “Ghost Tracking,”) and arrange relevant outings and activities.

CitySocializer

Much like MeetUp, CitySocializer helps bring people together in certain urban areas such as New York, London and 30 other cities. This app lets users discover and join in with group activities happening in their area. You can create groups with similarly-minded people and organise social outings.

Best Safety & Personal Security Apps

Prey Anti-Theft: Find My Phone & Mobile Security

If you are worried about crime in your area, you may want to try out Prey Anti-Theft: Find My Phone & Mobile Security. This app boasts a comprehensive selection of anti-theft tools and features specifically designed to protect your phone, laptop and tablet. For example, if your device is lost or stolen you can use the app’s GPS tool to locate it. If your device is stolen, the app will place a security lock on it, rendering the device useless to the thief. Prey also generates reports that can be used as police evidence if reporting on a crime.

TripWhistle Global SOS

TripWhistle Global SOS gives users access to over 70 different emergency numbers, local emergency police, fire, and ambulance phone numbers for 196 countries around the world. If you find yourself in an emergency, the app will provide important information to emergency respondents such as your street address and GPS coordinates.

For a handy overview of all the apps listed above, take a look at this infographic guide below.